The first time I ever heard Lenny Breau play was this track from the Reader's Digest 4LP set entitled "Golden Guitar Magic" (RD4-75) in the early 70's. Lenny played on three tracks only - the other two being more Flamenco inspired. More recently the albums were released as a 3 CD set minus a few tracks (one of which was  Lenny's "Seguerillas").

From the opening bars I knew I was listening to something special and unique. With only a bass for accompaniment, Lenny delicately coaxes the melody out of his electric guitar in slow 3/4 time after an intro of his now trade mark harmonics. After eight bars the tempo quickens into a jazz waltz, the drummer joins in on brushes and the action begins. At this point I reached for the record sleeve to find out who the second guitarist was, but of course, there were no details whatsoever and I'm left wondering; surely this can't be just one guitarist? The bass and drums stop for a couple of bars while Lenny constructs a beautiful turnaround and the piece continues in a fast 4/4 tempo. The character of Lenny's sound changes slightly and I'm not sure what is being played with the (thumb) pick and what is being played by the fingers. Whatever it was, I knew by this point that I wanted to hear more of this guitarist. The middle eight arrives and there's that other guitarist again! Could it be double tracked? Lenny finishes off his solo and changes the tempo once again to a slow 4/4 to play the last chorus on the melody in his beautiful, unique, faultless fingerstyle. Those chords! I'd never heard anything like it before. The tempo quickens again and Lenny takes the piece out in harmonics while the record fades to nothing. I scoured the record sleeve to find more from this new discovery I had made but sadly there was no more. The other two pieces by Lenny were in a flamenco style which, at that time, was of no interest to me. It could have been a totally different guitarist for all I knew at the time.

It was some time before I was able to find out more about Lenny Breau and find his recordings - always difficult! But the memory of that introduction to Lenny's music, "Lullaby Of Birdland" remains my all time favourite Lenny Breau track of all time to this day.